i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to measurement apparatus and methods of operating such apparatus. In particular, the invention relates to measurement apparatus having a deactivation portion for inhibiting normal operation.
ii) Description of Related Art
Many different types of measurement apparatus are known. Such apparatus includes so-called dimensional measurement apparatus for measuring a physical dimension of an object. Examples of dimensional measurement apparatus include measurement probes, optical position encoders etc. Non-dimensional measurement apparatus is also known for measuring a property of an object other than a dimension; for example, temperature probes, Raman spectrometers, Fourier transform infrared spectrometers etc.
Measurement apparatus is usually manufactured to acquire measurements with a certain level of accuracy. It is also possible that periodic updates to the firmware of the measurement probe or software of the associated computer controller may be necessary to ensure that optimum levels of device performance are maintained. For certain measurement devices, periodic recalibration may also be required. Such updates can, however, be unintentionally overlooked resulting in the measurement device providing reduced measurement accuracy over time and/or with use.